Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

North Carolina

Progressive Pulse: How the Senate Pays for Its 2015 Budget Proposal

May 30, 2014

By Tazra Mitchell, May 30, 2014 On Wednesday evening, the North Carolina Senate unveiled its $21.16 billion budget proposal for the 2015 fiscal year that begins in June 2014 and ends in July 2015. The Senate leadership decided to put the budget on a fast track to approval, bypassing the appropriations subcommittee process and scheduling […]

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Pay-Per-Mile Tax is Only a Partial Fix

May 28, 2014 • By Carl Davis

Pay-Per-Mile Tax is Only a Partial Fix

The gasoline tax is the single largest source of funding for transportation infrastructure in the United States, but the tax is on an unsustainable course. Sluggish gas tax revenue growth has put strain on transportation budgets at the federal and state levels, and has led to countless debates around the country about how best to pay for America's infrastructure.

North Carolina Justice Center: First in Flight from the EITC – Low-Income Working Families Bid Farewell to NC’s Earned Income Tax Credit

Unless lawmakers reverse course, close to one million working families in North Carolina will claim the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for the last time this tax season, bringing pain to individual families and local economies. One year ago, North Carolina lawmakers put an end to the tax credit and subsequently pursued deep tax […]

NC Policy Watch: North Carolina can make tax system more fair by reinstating its state Earned Income Tax Credit

It comes as no surprise to working families that North Carolina’s tax system is fundamentally unfair. Families who make less than $47,000 a year pay, on average, nearly 2 times more of their income in state and local taxes than those making more than $345,000. But taxpayers don’t have to accept this fundamental unfairness. One […]

North Carolina Justice Center: Raising the Bar in the Budget Debate

The Legislature’s upcoming budget debate is an opportunity to change the state’s direction and ensure a stronger recovery from the Great Recession. To do so, policymakers must make the critical investments needed to alleviate the economic struggles of North Carolina families, create pathways to the middle class, and strengthen communities across the state. Read the […]

The Transylvania Times: No True Tax Reform

April 16, 2014

(Original Post) Within the past few days, thousands of North Carolinians have been scurrying to complete and file their state and federal income tax returns. As always, there is a call for a simpler and more equitable tax code. As usual, very little is done to make taxes simpler or achieve a more equitable system. […]

North Carolina Justice Center: Who Pays in 2014 – Tax Plan Creates Winners and Losers in North Carolina

Changes are coming to who pays taxes in North Carolina, and the news is not good for middle- and low-income taxpayers. This tax season marks the final year taxpayers will file their income taxes under the state’s old tax code and by next year it will be apparent to many taxpayers that the tax plan […]

Rocky Mountain Telegram: Tax loopholes favor giant corporations

March 27, 2014

(Original Post) Tuesday, March 25, 2014 Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican-led N.C. General Assembly in 2013 made good on their promises to cut corporate income taxes in order for North Carolina to better compete to land new businesses and industries – and the jobs that come with them. North Carolina’s tax rate on corporations […]

News & Record: Next to nothing

March 24, 2014

(Original Post) What’s less than a lower corporate income-tax rate? What some businesses actually pay. North Carolina legislators cut the state’s corporate income-tax rate last year from 6.9 percent to 6 percent. It’s scheduled to drop to 5 percent next year. Republican lawmakers said the cut was needed to create a better business climate and […]

Accounting Today: Big Corporations Dodge Billions in State Taxes

March 21, 2014

(Original Post) WASHINGTON, D.C. (MARCH 21, 2014) BY MICHAEL COHN Some of the largest and most profitable Fortune 500 companies are paying little or nothing in state income taxes, according to a new study. The study, by the advocacy groups Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, examined 269 Fortune […]

NC Policy Watch: Profitable corporations avoid paying fair share of taxes

As our state leaders continue to look for ways to give more and more tax cuts to profitable corporations, these corporations continue to find ways to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. It is a win-win proposition: Heads they win; Tails they still win! Read the Full Report

North Carolina Justice Center: Tax change for multistate corporations would harm state investments

State lawmakers are considering a change that would provide a tax cut to a handful of corporations and no guarantee of job creation, says a report released this morning by the Budget & Tax Center, a project of the NC Justice Center. It would also reduce available revenue for public investments by $90 million over […]

The Digital Journal: Customers will pay for ash pond cleanup, Duke Energy CEO says

March 13, 2014

(Original Post) BY KELLY FETTY Charlotte – Duke Energy expects its customers to pay for the cleanup and removal of hazardous coal ash ponds in North Carolina, CEO Lynn Good said last Friday. Good made the remark in a brief interview after she accepted the BusinessWoman of the Year award at Queens University of Charlotte […]

Buenos Aires Herald: The US – the poorest rich country on earth

March 10, 2014

(Original Post) By Gabriela Esquivada For The Herald in US The United States is often referred to as the “land of opportunity.” But an increasing number of US citizens are feeling the pinch, struggling to makes ends meet as inequality in the country rises. From New York, Gabriela Esquivada looks at how the richest nation […]

Article 3: Will Georgia Go Blue?

March 6, 2014

(Original Post) By Eric Bates | March 6, 2014 If you had told me last year that a red state in the Deep South could possibly turn blue within two or three election cycles, I probably would’ve laughed at you and then dismissed everything you had to say about politics ever again. But to my […]

North Carolina Justice Center: Duke Energy the subject of another scathing report

One of North Carolina’s largest, most profitable (and most controversial) corporations is the subject of renewed criticism today. A new report co-released last night by the Washington, DC-based groups Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy along with the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center reveals that Duke Energy has […]

North Carolina Justice Center: Many of America’s Most Profitable Corporations Pay Little or No Federal Income Taxes; Headquartered Companies in N.C. Top the List

Washington, D.C. (February 26, 2014) – A comprehensive five-year study of 288 highly profitable Fortune 500 companies finds that 111 of them paid no federal corporate income tax in at least one of the last five years while one-third paid a U.S. tax rate less than 10 percent over the same period, including 26 that […]

News & Observer: Duke Energy paid no federal income taxes in recent years

February 26, 2014

(Original Post) Posted by David Ranii on February 26, 2014  Duke Energy is one of 26 profitable Fortune 500 companies that paid no federal income taxes over the past five years, according to a new report. A Duke spokesman said the Charlotte-based company benefited from accelerated depreciation on billions of dollars in capital investments that […]

Tax Analysts: Short on Revenue, State and Local Governments Turn to Nonprofits

February 3, 2014

  And in North Carolina, lawmakers and leaders of nonprofits fought a bitter battle last year over exemptions for nonprofits. Ultimately, HB 998 capped nonprofits’ sales tax refunds at $45 million and required them to begin collecting sales and use taxes on admission charges to entertainment activities. Their property, income, and payroll tax exemptions were […]

Milwaukee Courier: Gov. Walker plans massive sales tax hike on the working class

January 22, 2014

(Original Post) 18 JANUARY 2014 Compiled by Courier Staff It’s no secret that Wisconsin is in poor economic shape. Recent numbers indicate that the state is 38th in private sector job growth in the last two years. Despite Governor Scott Walker’s insistence that his Tea Party reforms are working, families in Milwaukee and across the […]

Fox Business: Income Analysis Shows Widening Gap

December 11, 2013

(Original Post) By Judy Martel Published December 10, 2013 Bankrate.com As Americans continue to climb out of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, many experts are taking note of a widening gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Federal income data over the past 20 years show a growing divide in income among […]

The Progressive Pulse: Profiles in tax avoidance – Yum! Brands

December 2, 2013

(Original Post) Post on November 26, 2013 by Allan Freyer When Thanksgiving rolls around, no one wants to watch someone else eat all the turkey and then have to pick up the grocery bill all by themselves. But that’s what’s happening in our nation’s budget debate—highly profitable multinational corporations are using special tax loopholes, credits, […]

Politico: Arthur Laffer is back as GOP tax man

October 15, 2013

  By RACHAEL BADE | 10/14/13 11:03 PM EDT Four decades ago at the Washington Hotel, a quirky economist made a pitch on the back of a napkin to Ford administration officials Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld: Cutting taxes would create an economic boom. Back then, many Republicans opposed tax cuts, but that famous “Laffer […]

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A Federal Gas Tax for the Future

September 23, 2013 • By Carl Davis

A Federal Gas Tax for the Future

Gas tax revenues are on an unsustainable course. Over the last five years, Congress has transferred more than $53 billion from the general fund to the transportation fund in order to compensate for lagging gas tax revenues. By 2015, the transportation fund will be insolvent unless an additional $15 billion transfer is made. Larger transfers will be needed in subsequent years.

Center for American Progess: The Real Cost of Cuccinelli

September 23, 2013 • By ITEP Staff

Center for American Progess: The Real Cost of Cuccinelli

Besides working on these major research projects, I developed CTJ/ITEP’s strong online media presence. One of the most important roles I play is as the primary web manager for both CTJ and ITEP. Similarly, over the past two years I successfully initiated and then maintained CTJ and ITEP’s social media presence. Center for American Progress […]